Monday, September 14, 2009

New Job

It's pretty common for an officer to change positions about every 9 to 12 months. Normally, they start out as Platoon Leaders before transitioning into either a staff position, of in my case, the dubious honor of XO.
The Executive Officer (XO) is second in the chain of command for a company or troop. Since I'm in a Cavalry Squadron, not a Battalion, we are considered troops, not companies. Being a Logistician usually means that I stay within the realm of Logistics, i.e. I stay within my support troop, move to another support company, or go to the Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) and serve on their staff. Notice I italicized the word usually. That's to emphasize the way things are supposed to go.
Right before the Labor Day weekend, my commander told me that I would stay in my current position, the Squadron Maintenance Officer/Platoon Leader, until roughly December or January. At that time I would transition to D troop XO position. Not even a week later, I got called into his office only to find out that I would be taking over as XO, but not for D troop. Instead, I would move over to the Squadron's Headquarters and Headquarters' Troop (HHT) XO slot.
Without going into too much detail, HHT consists of the Command Group (Squadron Commander, Squadron Executive Officer, Command Sergeant Major and all their staff), as well as the Headquarters' Troop, made up of the Troop Commander, First Sergeant, myself, a field artillery platoon, medic platoon, and a few miscellaneous soldiers. Although just about all XO positions require the same work, this troop has a little more headache. It's a very thankless job, with responsibilities ranging from property accountability, long and short-term planning, logisitical support and maintenance (the only thing I'm proficient in), physical security, and about a dozen other things.
If you're wondering how well I'm taking this change, the answer is... not so much. Logistics Officer usually stay within the realm of support, so going outside this sphere and being assigned to anything BUT a support unit is a big transition. So, things are going to be a little intense for the next several weeks/months. Lord willing, I'll rise to the challenge; but, I'm definitely not looking forward to the future's uncertainties.
François de la Rochefoucauld once stated that, "The only thing constant is change." Things are definitely going to change for me.... the question is how much?!

1 comment:

Claire said...

I hope it is going well so far!